Combat firearm training systems are used by police associations and the like to give trainees experience in combat situations. The object of such a system is generally to present a situation wherein a trainee must decide quickly whether or not to use his firearm. Such situations are often created with the use of lifelike targets, some of which are designed to appear friendly and others of which are designed to appear life-threatening, e.g., a lifelike figure brandishing a firearm. Such targets are typically made to suddenly confront a trainee who must quickly recognize the character of the target and take appropriate action. The sudden appearance can be generated by various means.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,914,879 to Taylor, III, et al described a system using two-dimensional targets which can be rotated to present either a friendly looking figure or a villanous figure. The target is first oriented so that the trainee can see neither figure. The target is then rotated, e.g., by remote control, to present either friend or foe. Typically, several targets are placed at various positions before a trainee and rotated to expose a figure at various time intervals. Such a system can be used to cause a trainee to make several life or death decisions in rapid succession.
One of the drawbacks with the above system is that it lacks realism because live figures cannot suddenly appear from nowhere. Rather, live figures, if they appear suddenly, move into view from behind other objects.
A more realistic system, which is commercially available, comprises motorized figures which move along a track. The figures are controlled remotely by an operator who can, with a sufficiently sophisticated system, move the figures forwardly and rearwardly along the track. With an appropriate shield in place, the figures can be moved from behind the shield into the open and then back behind the shield. This simulates more realistic movement of a person.
The difficulty with such a system is that it is hard for one operator to control the movement of more than one figure. Further, the complex motor mechanism associated with each figure is not only expensive but is subject to breakdown. Another drawback is that such a system requires an operator for controlling movement of the figures along with the trainee.
Thus, there is a continuing need to improve the realism of such systems together with a competing need to reduce their cost.